In this meeting, prof. Meurs presented an overview of different transition theories, followed by a discussion about to what degree the assumed mechanisms according to these theories are recognized in practice or experienced in different research projects.
An important lesson was that none of the transition theories is clearly better than the others for understanding real-world dynamics, suggesting that a multi-theoretical approach to transition dynamics would be helpful for getting a deep understanding. Moreover, the links of these theories to the school of decision-making under deep uncertainty (DMDU) has not been strongly elaborated. Consequently, one specific theoretical framework for the whole project could not be chosen. A common insight however was that many innovations relate to developments in a niche, requiring nice management approaches, and that a major challenge in practice is to crack the regime (implying change of attitudes, new institutional arrangements, stronger capabilities to identify and cope with uncertainties). Niches relatively seldom operate as disruptive developments.
The ongoing study on these theories and the links to DMDU triggered some of the senior On the Move researchers (Jittrapirom, Meurs, Marchau, Van der Heijden) to further develop ideas in a journal article submitted for review in 2023.